InPrague, Nazi authorities changed the name of Wilson railway station (named for Woodrow Wilson) to "Main station", and Masaryk station to "Prague-Hibernia station".[5]
Died:Vsevolod Meyerhold, 65, Russian theatre director (executed by firing squad); Yefim Yevdokimov, 59, Soviet politician and member of the Cheka (executed)
A German plane crashed on English soil for the first time in the war when a Heinkel He 111 was shot down near Whitby. Flight Lieutenant Peter Townsendof43 Squadron was credited with the air victory.[6]
After two days of talks, the Balkan Pact issued a 7-point communiqué indicating it would remain neutral in the conflict.[4]
The United States and Saudi Arabia established full diplomatic relations for the first time when Bert Fish presented his credentials as American Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.[7]
Neville Chamberlain made a speech in Parliament updating the House on the general international situation, saying there was "no reason to be dissatisfied" with the early progress of the war. Chamberlain also praised the Finnish people for their "heroic struggle" that "has evoked the admiration of the world" and said that "further aid is now on its way."[12]
The French Chamber of Deputies met for a secret session. Prime Minister Édouard Daladier had resisted holding the meeting behind closed doors out of concern that its secrecy would have a negative effect on national morale.[13]
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that he was sending Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles to the principal Western European capitals on a fact-finding mission. In private Roosevelt conceded that the chances of finding a peaceful solution to the war were remote.[14]
First mass deportation of Poles from Soviet-occupied territories to prison and labour camps in Siberia/northern Russia[16]
To mark the 2,600th anniversary of the traditional founding date of Japan, Pope Pius XII sent Emperor Hirohito a telegram that said in part: "We ask God that may you cease hostilities and that through Divine aid may the Japanese people and their sovereigns attain greater glory and happy years."[17]
Czech Jews were ordered to close their shops and cease economic activity.[8]
From the south portico of the White House, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt confronted a gathering of 4,500 members of the American Youth Congress, which had recently passed a resolution declaring that granting aid to Finland was an "attempt to force America into the imperialistic war" against the Soviet Union. Roosevelt told them that it was "a grand thing" for youth to be interested enough in government to come to Washington, but offered "some words of warning or perhaps I should say of suggestion ... do not as a group pass resolutions on subjects which you have not thought through and on which you cannot possibly have complete knowledge." The president continued, "That American sympathy is ninety-eight per cent with the Finns in their effort to stave off invasion of their own soil is by now axiomatic. That America wants to help them by lending or giving money to them to save their own lives is also axiomatic today. That the Soviet Union would, because of this, declare war on the United States is about the silliest thought that I have ever heard advanced in the fifty-eight years of my life. That we are going to war ourselves with the Soviet Union is an equally silly thought." The organization responded by booing the president, but the event was politically useful to Roosevelt in that it served as a rejoinder to accusations from his opponents that he was sympathetic to communism.[14][18]
Finland asked Sweden to provide troops to fight against the Soviet Union, but Sweden refused out of fear that both Britain and Germany would respond by invading Sweden.[6]
By a vote of 49 to 27 the United States Senate passed the Roosevelt Administration's bill to provide additional government loans to Finland, China and other countries. The bill went on to the House.[22]
An authorized Nazi spokesman said that U-boats had a "theoretical right" to attack United States shipping en route to Allied ports.[24]
The Manstein Plan was tested again in a war gameatMayen. Heinz Guderian concluded that the plan was viable, but Franz Halder did not share Guderian's confidence that panzers could cross the Meuse on their own without waiting for infantry support. This debate was never resolved except for an agreement that panzer commanders would be authorized to attempt the crossing on their own, but if they failed Army Group A would switch to the infantry option.[9][25]
Altmark Incident: Forces of the Royal Navy seized the German steamer Altmark in Norwegian waters and freed 299 prisoners of war. Norway protested the action as a violation of its national sovereignty.[29]
Erich von Manstein presented the Manstein Plan to Hitler, detailing the war plan for the German invasion of France and the Low Countries. Hitler was impressed by the plan.[6]
Germany accused Britain of "piracy, murder and gangsterism" over the Altmark incident and also lodged a protest with Norway demanding compensation for failing to protect the German ship within Norwegian territorial waters. Norway in turn protested to Britain for infringing on the country's neutrality.[30][31]
The results of a Gallup poll were published asking Americans, "If it appears that Germany is defeating England and France, should the United States declare war on Germany and send our army and navy to Europe to fight?" 77% said no and 23% said yes, not counting the 7% who expressed no opinion.[34]
The Kriegsmarine launched Operation Wikinger, targeting British fishing vessels suspected of reporting the movements of German warships. En route, the destroyer flotilla was mistakenly bombed by a Heinkel He 111, sinking the Leberecht Maass and killing 280 aboard. The Max Schultz hit a naval mine attempting a rescue effort and also sank with the loss of all 308 crew.[6][11]
Hitler made a speech in Munich on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Nazi Party in which he declared that Germany must be and would be victorious.[37]
Speaking in his home city of Birmingham in an address broadcast to the United States, Neville Chamberlain outlined Britain's aims: the independence of the Poles and Czechs, and "tangible evidence to satisfy us that pledges and assurances when they are given will be fulfilled ... Therefore, it is for Germany to take the next step and to show us conclusively that she has abandoned that thesis that might is right."[38]
The Manstein Plan was fully adopted by a new OKW directive.[9]
German submarine U-63 was sunk in the North Sea by three destroyers and a submarine from Allied convoy HN-14. 24 of the 25 crew survived and were captured.[6]
The large passenger liner RMS Queen Elizabeth left Clydebank on a secret maiden voyage to New York for her final fitting. The British generated false intelligence to make the Germans believe that the ship's destination was Southampton.[6]
InRome, U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles had his first day of meetings with European leaders during his fact-finding mission. Welles went to the Palazzo Chigi where he found Count Ciano to be very hostile to Germany. They then went together to the Palazzo Venezia where Welles found Mussolini to be hardly better disposed towards Britain and France.[14][39] Welles later recounted being "profoundly shocked" at Mussolini's appearance, finding him looking old, slow and tired in contrast to the vital-looking Mussolini seen in photographs and newsreels.[40]
The Land Transfers Regulations were published, dividing Mandatory Palestine into zones of varying land restrictions. The regulations restricted the registry of land by Jews.[41][42]
Hitler issued a secret directive to all Nazi officials who were to be meeting with Sumner Welles. They were told to maintain the narrative that Britain and France had started the war and were determined to destroy Germany, so Germany had no choice but to continue fighting.[43]
The 12th Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles, hosted by Bob Hope for the first of what would be nineteen times. Gone With the Wind won eight awards including Best Picture. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Oscar when she was named Best Supporting Actress. The Los Angeles Times published the names of the winners in its 8:45 p.m. edition, so most of the attendees already knew the results ahead of time. The Academy would respond by starting a tradition the following year in which the winners were not revealed until the ceremony itself when sealed envelopes were opened.[44]
^ abTrotter, William (1991). A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939–1940. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books. p. 273. ISBN978-1-56512-249-9.
^El-Eini, Roza (2006). Mandated Landscape: British Imperial Rule in Palestine 1929–1948. Routledge. p. 261. ISBN978-1-135-77240-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Kark, Ruth; Oren-Nordheim, Michal (2001). Jerusalem and Its Environs: Quarters, Neighborhoods, Villages, 1800–1948. Wayne State University Press. p. 355. ISBN978-0-8143-2909-2.
